Mignon Talbot

Mignon Talbot (August 16, 1869 – July 18, 1950) was an American paleontologist. Talbot recovered and named the only known fossils of the dinosaur Podokesaurus holyokensis, which were found near Mount Holyoke College in 1910, and published a scientific description of the specimen in 1911. In 1909 she became the first woman elected to be a member of the Paleontological Society. In the state of New York, she contributed to the Helderbergian crinoids and studied the faunas of Stafford limestone. In 1908, Talbot became professor and chairman of the Geology department. In 1929, she became the chairman of both the Geology and Geography departments. and almost all the specimens were destroyed, including the one extant partial skeleton of Podokesaurus. Talbot retired in 1935 and is said to have remained passionate about her profession. She received her doctorate degree in paleontology from Yale University in 1904 with a dissertation on Helderbergian crinoids from New York State. The specimen was formally described in June 1911 by Talbot, who thereby became the first woman to discover and name a non-bird dinosaur.

Many of her research notes are considered historical artifacts. Talbot's contributions to geology were later reproduced in a collection decided upon by various scholars.

Publications

Talbot, M. (1903). A contribution to a list of the fauna of the Stafford limestone of New York. American Journal of Science, S4-16(166), 148-150. Talbot, M. (1904). Contribution to a revision of the (Lower Devonian) Helderbergian fauna of New York. (Publication No. 9919823.) [Doctoral thesis, Yale University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. . Talbot, M. (1905). Revision of the New York Helderbergian crinoids. American Journal of Science. S4-20(170), 17-34. Talbot, M. (1911). Podokesaurus holyokensis, a new dinosaur from the Triassic of the Connecticut Valley. American Journal of Science. S4-31(186), 469-479.

Personal life

Talbot's maternal grandfather was a doctor, and her father served as the superintendent of a school for deaf children. Even though her parents died within days of each other in 1899, by that time her family situation had allowed her to pursue a post-secondary education and further a career in academia. She served as a high school teacher in Columbus, Ohio even while continuing graduate work at the State University and at the same time "keeping up a home for [her younger] brothers." She left Ohio to continue her study of paleontology full time at Yale beginning in early 1903.